CENTRAL TRUST Co Has $409,000 Stock Holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

CENTRAL TRUST Co reduced its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 9.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,419 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 265 shares during the quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $409,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Brighton Jones LLC bought a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter valued at about $323,000. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 980.3% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 24,198 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,650,000 after acquiring an additional 21,958 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. increased its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 24.8% in the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 3,119 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $471,000 after acquiring an additional 620 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Quest Diagnostics by 23.8% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 543,472 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $81,994,000 after purchasing an additional 104,495 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 19.0% during the fourth quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 21,381 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,510,000 after purchasing an additional 3,412 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Quest Diagnostics

In other news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 2,555 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total value of $434,350.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 10,575 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,797,750. The trade was a 19.46% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO J. E. Davis sold 39,191 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.46, for a total value of $6,602,115.86. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 127,623 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,499,370.58. The trade was a 23.49% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 42,620 shares of company stock worth $7,190,045 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 8.16% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Up 0.4%

DGX opened at $179.64 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.31. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $135.47 and a fifty-two week high of $182.38. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $174.14 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $166.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.71, a PEG ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.49.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.21 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.63 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.81% and a return on equity of 15.11%. As a group, research analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 21st. Investors of record on Monday, July 7th will be paid a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 7th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.46%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Mizuho lifted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $178.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Citigroup cut Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $185.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $182.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Redburn Partners set a $195.00 price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $185.73.

About Quest Diagnostics

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated provides diagnostic testing and services in the United States and internationally. The company develops and delivers diagnostic information services, such as routine, non-routine and advanced clinical testing, anatomic pathology testing, and other diagnostic information services.